Three and a half hours south west from Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco, through the fog and rain, green mountains and winding roads, past beautiful vistas along a curving coastline, past agave, coconut, and plantain farms, and amidst nameless pueblos and rustic surfer towns lies El Faro, one of Mexico's many hidden treasures. Imagine three hundred yards of white sand, pristine beach, and beautiful coastal views and combine it with thatched roof huts, tents, and hammocks.

Amongst this tropical paradise is where I spent this past weekend eating fresh ceviche and shrimp quesadillas, drinking all the Estrella you can ask for, sleeping, reading, and frying in the sun. The twenty hours roundtrip travel, aching sunburn, and rough Monday at work were more than worth it.
I arrived in Guadalajara at 10:00pm on Friday after seven long hours on a bus and was met by my hosts Nat, Nunu, and Xochitl, all Guadalajaran natives, and sisters. Nat, who is currently at home visiting her family, is married to my friend and ex-DC roommate, Shelton.

They picked me up at the bus station, truck packed and ready to hit the road, and we proceeded to Xochitl's house, who was having a house warming party. The plan was to hit the road at midnight and get to El Faro in time to catch a few zzz's and rise with the sun. Plans changed, as they always do, and we got on the road at 5:00am after two and a half hours of sleep.
We arrived in El Faro three and a half hours later, set up the tents and hung the hammocks, and I proceeded to fall asleep on the sand soaking up the intense Pacific coast sun, which later on would earn me the nickname "don Lechoso" due to my pale skin and red sunburn. ("don" being a term of endearment given mainly to older people, "lechoso" coming from leche, which means milk, and "-oso" a common superlative ending. In other words- Mr. Milky.)

The rest of the weekend was spent lounging in the hammock, reading "The Thousand and One Nights," watching a breath taking sunset, and catching up on needed sleep.

We left this paradise Sunday evening in time to get me back to the bus station for my 11:25pm departure back to reality. After a seven hour bus ride through a night of tossing and turning, and painful sunburn, I arrived back to DF to crash for two hours and get ready for work. Looking back only a day later, the weekend was caught somewhere between a dream and a Jack Kerouac novel, truly a wonderful break from the daily grind, smoggy air, and concrete jungle of my home in Mexico City. These words and pictures hardly do it justice.

All of these pictures, as well as the rest of this set, can be seen and downloaded in their original sizes by clicking on any one of them and going to my site on Flickr.com. Click on the El Faro set.